


I'm Not a Disney Princess

by orderlychaos



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Implied Clint Barton/Phil Coulson - Freeform, Non-SHIELD AU, Talking to animals, cameo by Leo Fitz, magical curses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 23:13:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2168910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orderlychaos/pseuds/orderlychaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“Is this about your Dad?” Jemma said.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Skye sighed.  She was eighteen, and she’d be leaving for MIT in the fall, which should pretty much make this her best summer ever.  At least, the best since the one when Phil Coulson had swooped down like a knight from a fairy tale and adopted Skye out of the orphanage.  The only problem was, the closer Skye got to leaving, the more her Dad tried to hide how sad he was.  She didn’t want to leave him alone when she left, so Skye had been trying vainly to set him up with someone -- only, every single date had ended in complete disaster.  Skye was beginning to think there might be a reason her Dad never dated.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“It’s sort of about that,” she told Jemma.  “Plus, I’m pretty sure that woman I tried to buy the love potion off last week was an actual witch.”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All Skye wants is her Dad to be happy, and for the beautiful and smart Jemma Simmons to be her girlfriend.  Except, apparently, Skye can now talk to animals.  As if her life wasn't complicated enough.</p>
<p>Seriously, Skye was never making a deal with a witch again.</p>
<p>(An attempt at a modern fairy tale.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Not a Disney Princess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [totalnerdatheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/totalnerdatheart/gifts).



> This is for totalnerdatheart, who asked for Skimmons with Phlint on the side, modern day fairy tale and idk, animals.
> 
> I didn't quite get any Phil/Clint in there, but I have planned a companion piece to this, all through Phil's POV. So hopefully that will make up for it :)
> 
> (Also, I'm not actually sure this qualifies as a modern day fairy tale, but there are animals!)
> 
>  
> 
> Also, a giant thank you to Ralkana, who helped me clean this up and make it readable <3

“Okay, so I might have a problem,” Skye Coulson complained as she flopped, stomach-first, onto her bed, her phone pressed to her ear.  The only thing stopping Skye smothering her face with a pillow was the faint hope that her incredibly smart best friend might be able to get her out of the mess she was in.

Maybe.

“Skye?  What’s wrong?” Jemma Simmons asked.

Even without seeing Jemma’s face, Skye knew she was tucking her hair behind her ear as she bit her lip, the way Jemma always did when she was worried.  Skye found that more than a little endearing, and had to make an effort to yank her thoughts away from that mental picture.  And Jemma’s ridiculously hot English accent.  It was a faintly embarrassing reaction, but Skye’d had a while to get used to it, since she wasn’t sure admitting to her best friend she had more than just platonic feelings would ever end well.  

“Yeah, it’s me,” she agreed.  Skye was probably lucky they weren’t having this conversation in person.

“Is this about your Dad?” Jemma said.

Skye sighed.  She was eighteen, and she’d be leaving for MIT in the fall, which should pretty much make this her _best summer ever_.  At least, the best since the one when Phil Coulson had swooped down like a knight from a fairy tale and adopted Skye out of the orphanage.  The only problem was, the closer Skye got to leaving, the more her Dad tried to hide how sad he was.  She didn’t want to leave him alone when she left, so Skye had been trying vainly to set him up with someone - only, every single date had ended in _complete disaster_.  Skye was beginning to think there might be a reason her Dad never dated.

“It’s sort of about that,” she told Jemma.  “Plus, I’m pretty sure that woman I tried to buy the love potion off last week was an actual witch.”

“What?” Jemma asked, concerned and faintly exasperated at the same time.  “Skye!  Witches aren’t real.”

“Are you really, _really_ sure about that?” Skye replied.  “Because I’m not.”

“Skye, there are no such things as witches,” Jemma told her firmly, with all the certainty of an eighteen-year-old genius who had just gotten into Harvard.

Skye sighed, wondering if maybe all the stress of trying to set her Dad up on dates had actually made her crazy instead.  “Then how come I can now talk to animals?” she asked, rolling over to stare up at her ceiling.  Her ceiling didn’t know either.

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.  “What do you mean you can _talk to animals_?” Jemma hissed.

Wincing slightly, Skye made a face.  “I mean, I was walking home from the coffee shop yesterday, and I saw three cats, and I’m pretty sure one of them asked me what the hell I was staring at,” she said.  And yes, that sounded even more insane out loud.

“I know I’m going to regret asking this, but… what did the other two cats say?” Jemma asked carefully.

“Well, one of them just wanted me to get out of his patch of sun,” Skye replied, “but the other one asked me for directions.”  She blinked up at the ceiling while Jemma panicked very quietly on the other end of the phone.  “I’m going crazy, aren’t I?”

“No, of course not!” Jemma replied immediately in the kind of high-pitched voice that neither one of them believed.  Jemma had never been very good at lying.  Skye had discovered that when Assistant Principal Sitwell had caught them trying to sneak out through the school library’s back window.

“Jem, you can tell me the truth,” Skye said softly.

“You’re _not_ crazy,” Jemma insisted loyally.  “But if you’re really worried, Leo and I can do some tests.  Can you come over tonight?”

“Sure,” Skye agreed, because she never said no to Jemma.  She wasn’t sure she knew how.  “Dad’s got this big event thing that he has to oversee, so he won’t be home ‘til late.”

“Okay, then,” Jemma said.  “We’ll figure this out, Skye.  Promise.”

If only Skye could be so sure of that.

~*~

After tugging on her favourite leather jacket and leaving a note for her Dad, Skye headed for the subway.  It was only about five stops over to the brownstone where Jemma and Leo lived.  Of course, she’d just gotten down the block from the apartment she shared with her Dad when a loud shout snapped her attention to a nearby alley.

“Stupid mutt!”

“Sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt you.  Just wanted pizza.”

Tightening her grip on the taser in her pocket, Skye crept forward and peered around the corner.  A large man was looming over a dog that was cowering at his feet.  The dog was a little scruffy, but clearly terrified, and Skye felt the low burn of anger in her stomach.  “Hey!” she shouted, rounding the corner and pulling out her taser.  “Leave the dog alone!”

“That mangy animal stole my pizza!” the man snapped, turning so he could loom towards Skye instead of the dog.  His eyes flickered over Skye.  “If the mutt’s yours, maybe I should demand a little repayment.”

Skye fought a shiver, and glared.  “Try anything, buddy, and you’ll be eating 200 kilovolts.”

Suddenly looking a lot more wary, the man raised his hands and backed off.  “No need to get nasty,” he muttered.

Still gripping her taser in warning, Skye glared until the man edged past and hit the street.  She watched carefully until she was sure he was gone before turning back to the dog.  Almost immediately, the dog leapt up and started dancing around her feet.  “Thank you, pretty lady,” the dog barked, its tongue lolling out.

Yeah, the whole speaking-to-animals deal was _really weird_.

“Uh, you’re welcome?” Skye said, reaching down to scratch the dog’s ears.  The dog only had one eye, and its golden fur was a little patchy, but it was kind of adorable.  Her fingers snagged on the dog’s collar, and Skye knelt down, laughing when her face was immediately bathed by a doggy tongue.  “Hey, knock it off,” she muttered, trying to read the dog’s tag.  “Arrow, huh?”

“Lucky,” the dog woofed.  “I’m Lucky.”

“Okay, Lucky,” Skye replied, giving the dog another scratch.

“Lucky!”

At the sound of his name being shouted from the street, the dog perked up, his tail wagging.  Another man appeared at the mouth of the alley, and Skye carefully stood up.  The second man was shorter than the first, but clearly muscled, and dressed in a battered leather jacket.  Skye’s hand moved to grip her taser again.  “Okay,” Lucky said beside her.  “Owner.”

“There you are!” the man said, then stopped, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck.  “Aww, dog, no.”

Skye blinked, before she caught sight of the nearby overturned pizza box.

“I’m really sorry about Lucky,” the man said.  “He just really likes pizza and…”

“It’s cool,” Skye said with a grin.  “It wasn’t my pizza.”

The man blinked.  Now that he was closer, Skye could see he was pretty good-looking, with dark blond hair as scruffy as his dog’s, sharp blue eyes, and an ass his jeans really weren’t doing much to hide.  “Oh.  Well, I guess it’s good Lucky didn’t eat your pizza? I’m Clint, by the way,” he introduced, holding out a hand.  “Clint Barton.”

Lucky knocked his head against the back of Skye’s legs.  “My owner is okay.  He’s a good man.  Only a little stupid,” he barked.

Skye bit her lip so she didn’t smile at the dog’s words, because she wasn’t about to make his owner think she was crazy.

“Dog!” Clint protested.

Skye narrowed her eyes, because it almost sounded like Clint could understand Lucky.  “I’m Skye,” she said, shaking the man’s hand and breaking his weird stare-off with his dog.

Clint smiled, and the expression turned his face from good-looking to gorgeous - and Skye could admit to that, even though she was mostly in love with her best friend.  “Thanks for finding him,” Clint said.

“Sure,” Skye replied.  “It wasn’t exactly difficult.”  Shrugging, she jerked her thumb over her shoulder.  Jemma was probably worried about her by now.  Well, _more_ worried.  “Since everyone’s okay, I’m going to go now.”

“Thanks, again,” Clint replied as Lucky woofed his goodbyes.  “Have a good evening.”

“Yeah,” Skye told him, and waved.  “You too.”

~*~

“Okay, seriously, this is bad,” Skye said, thumping down on Jemma’s bed.

Momentarily distracted by the way the elusive scent of Jemma’s perfume still clung to the sheets, Skye didn’t notice Jemma until Jemma had sat down next to her.  “I’m sure it’s not _that_ bad,” Jemma replied, sliding fingers into Skye’s hair and stroking soothingly.  “Think of it as an exciting new opportunity.”

Leo Fitz snorted from where he was leaning against the doorway to Jemma’s bedroom.  “A new opportunity for what?” he asked, his Scottish accent still thick despite years in the US.  “A pet rescue business?”

Skye scowled, because Leo had only just finished laughing after he’d found out that Skye had rescued not only Lucky, but two cats and a pigeon on the way over.

“Leo,” Jemma said exasperatedly, glaring at her cousin.  “I’m sure Skye will think of something amazing to do with her new ability.  She always has the most brilliant ideas.”

Skye’s chest warmed at Jemma’s defense, and she willed herself not to blush.  “My new ability, huh?” she said.  “Weren’t you calling me crazy an hour ago?”

“I’d never call you crazy!” Jemma said, turning towards Skye with wide brown eyes.

Arching an eyebrow like her Dad always did, Skye watched in amazement as Jemma blushed.  Sitting up, she leaned half over Jemma, and grinned into the silkiness of Jemma’s hair for a moment.  “So you decided to turn me into your next pet project, huh?” she quipped.

Still in the doorway, Leo rolled his eyes.  “I’m going back to my robots,” he muttered, heading back down to his bedroom/lab in the basement.

“I don’t want to turn you into a project, Skye,” Jemma said quietly, her eyes fixed on her twisting hands in her lap, the blush still staining her cheeks.

“Hey, no, I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” Skye said hurriedly, her stomach clenching.  “I mean, you’re the smartest person I know.  I’m kind of hoping you can figure out what’s wrong with me.”

“Really?” Jemma’s dark eyes widened again, and there was something wondering in her gaze.

“Really,” Skye agreed firmly, ignoring the way her stomach did a little flip.

Jemma smiled, her whole face brightening with excitement.  “Well, I could borrow some of Mum’s chemistry equipment and we could study a few blood samples?” she offered.

Skye found it pretty hard to focus on anything when Jemma smiled like that.  “Sure,” she said.  “Let’s do that.”

~*~

Skye woke up to a sharp, shooting pain in her neck.  Mornings were never her best time of day, but even so, Skye couldn’t remember why she’d fallen asleep on the couch.  A comforting warmth had settled over her stomach, and she instinctively snuggled into the line of heat behind her.  When the comforting warmth snuggled back, shifting slightly, Skye snapped awake, her heart pounding.  Glancing down, Skye found herself sprawled out on the couch in Jemma’s living room.  Jemma had tested as many things as she could think of last night, but they’d eventually given in to exhaustion around five in the morning, still no closer to an actual answer.

Of course, none of that quite explained why Jemma was currently curled around her, one arm possessively curled around Skye’s waist.  Skye was pretty sure she would have remembered anything leading to waking up with Jemma cuddling her.  For a second, hope burned brightly in her chest.  She and Jemma had been friends since junior high, but even best friends didn’t possessively snuggle each other, right?

Surreptitiously, Skye wiped at the drool at the corner of her mouth and tried to carefully extract herself from Jemma’s grasp.  She didn’t really want to move - staying right there in that comforting embrace would be _awesome_ \- but Jemma was going to be a little embarrassed if she woke up clutching Skye like a teddy bear.

Probably.

Skye’s heart lurched a little as Jemma instinctively tightened her grip when she began to move, but Skye managed to extract herself anyway.  Which was a good thing, because about five seconds later, Skye’s phone beeped.  Running a hand over her face as Jemma groaned distractingly behind her, Skye thumbed the screen.  Apparently, her Dad was texting her, which was was no doubt what had woken her up.

“Is everything okay?” Jemma asked, sitting up and pushing her silky hair out of her face.  Skye pretended that she didn’t want to bury her fingers in it and pull Jemma in for a kiss.

“Yeah, it’s just Dad,” Skye replied.  “He noticed I didn’t come home last night and wants us to do breakfast or something.”

If Skye was also suddenly noticing the way Jemma’s shirt had ridden up some time during the night, revealing a strip of pale skin, well, she was _not_ going to acknowledge that little fact.  Nope.

“Skye?”

“Huh?” Skye looked up and tried not to blush.

Jemma smiled, her eyes dancing.  “I said, did you want to take a shower before you leave?  I’ve got a spare t-shirt you can borrow.”

“Um, yeah,” Skye replied.  “That would be great.  Thanks.”

~*~

“Skye!  Will you come down from that tree before you hurt yourself?”

Ignoring Jemma’s worried voice, Skye inched herself along the tree branch a little more.  As had become her _life_ recently, halfway to the diner where she was meeting her Dad for breakfast, Skye had heard a voice calling for help.  When she’d looked up into the nearest tree, she’d found a tiny, black kitten stuck at the end of a tree branch, and well, now Skye was risking her neck to rescue it.  “Hold on a bit, will you?” she muttered to the kitten.  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“My paw’s stuck,” the cat meowed.  “It hurts.”

“Yeah, I know it does,” Skye said, trying to be as soothing as she could, while also being _completely terrified_.  Had the ground always been that far down?

“Skye, please?” Jemma called from the sidewalk.  When Skye glanced down, Jemma was wringing her hands and biting her lip, and she really did look scared.  “I’m not sure I can fix it if you break your head open on the concrete.”

“Just…”  Skye stretched out her hand, and finally managed to brush the soft fur of the little kitten.  “Easy,” she said when the kitten shied away.  “I’m trying to help here.”

The kitten blinked at her warily.

“So, do you have a name?” Skye asked it as a distraction, reaching for its paw.

The kitten meowed sadly.  “No,” it said.  “My mother didn’t give me one before I got lost.”

Okay, that was it, Skye was not about to cry because of a little kitten.  She wasn’t.  It was all this damn curse’s fault, anyway.  Seriously, it was the last time she was ever making a deal with a witch.

“It’s okay,” she soothed.  “I can give you one if you like?  Just hold still a second so I can get you free…”

Managing to free the little kitten’s paw, Skye gave a triumphant whoop as the kitten scurried up her arm to cling to her shoulder.  “So I’m not so bad now, huh?” she asked, right before the branch beneath her gave an ominous crack.

Skye barely had time for a loud curse before she was falling.  She  felt her arm slam into another tree branch, and she grabbed at it.  Her hand snagged it for a second, but her grip slipped, and a second after that, Skye hit the ground, which _hurt_.  “Ow,” she muttered.

“Oh my God, Skye!” Jemma shouted, rushing over.  “Are you okay?  Is anything broken?  Oh, it’s okay, I can test for that.  It’s fine.  Just lie still…”

“Is the kitten okay?” Skye rasped when her head stopped vibrating.

Suddenly careful hands that were _definitely_ not Jemma’s were turning her over, and Skye blinked warily up at Lucky’s owner from the night before.  “Huh?” she said.  “Where did you come from?”

“Easy,” Clint Barton said, carefully checking her head, and then her wrist because - _ow_  - apparently Skye had bruised it.  “That was quite a tumble.  And I just happened to be passing, completely by coincidence.  How’s the head?”

Skye blinked to clear her vision a little more.  “A bit sore, but still there, I think,” she replied.  “Where’s the kitten?  Is it okay?”

“She’s fine,” Clint said, sitting back on his haunches with a smile.  Now that Skye was concentrating, she could see he was wearing a uniform, and there was a first aid kit sitting beside him.  “Cats always tend to land on their feet.”

“We do,” the kitten agreed, casually licking her paw.

“Skye, are you really okay?” Jemma said, hovering worriedly in the background.

Holding out her uninjured hand, Skye let Jemma carefully tug her to her feet.  Then she submitted to a few minutes of Jemma checking over all her injuries, despite the fact that Clint had just done that.  “I’m okay, Jem,” she said.

“Yes, of course you are,” Jemma replied.  “Why wouldn’t you be?”

Leaning into Jemma’s side, because she clearly needed the reassurance, Skye glanced over at Clint.  “So… a fireman, huh?” she said, gesturing towards the uniform.  “I’m not sure I would have picked that.”

Smirking, Clint shrugged.  “Yeah, well, next time maybe leave the cat rescuing to the professionals, and we’ll call it even,” he replied.

As if sensing they were talking about her, the kitten meowed loudly.  “I’d like my name now, please,” she said, blinking up at Skye.

“Um… okay,” Skye replied.  Clint’s smirk grew even more amused, even as Jemma peered at her in concern again.  Skye ignored them both.  “How about Peggy?” she suggested to the kitten.  “Peggy Carter was a badass spy.”

The kitten blinked again.  “Peggy,” she meowed.  “Yes, I like that.  Thank you.”

“Peggy?” Jemma echoed.  “Did you…?  Is this the…”  She blinked, suddenly remembering Clint was there.  “...thing?”

“If you mean the thing where Skye can talk to animals, I figured that one out already,” Clint told her.

“Ha!” Skye said, poking a finger in Clint’s direction, and then wincing when the movement jarred her head.  “I knew you could understand Lucky!”

Clint blinked.  “You did?”

Skye opened her mouth to reply, but Jemma beat her to it.  “Of course, she did!  Skye is really very smart.”

Fighting a blush, Skye rolled her eyes at Clint’s returning smirk.  It was worth the pain.  

Shrugging, Clint glanced down at the kitten and then back up to Skye.  “I’m guessing you either went to make a deal with either Loki, or Lorelai.  That whole family is nuts, but those two are the ones with the most twisted senses of humour.”

Skye nodded.  “It was Lorelai,” she replied.  “I went to, um… get a love potion for my Dad.  Just so he wouldn’t be lonely when I left for college!”

Raising his eyebrows, Clint clearly decided to leave that statement alone.  “Yeah, well, as far as I can tell, Lorelai put the same spell on you that she put on me,” he said.

“What kind of spell?” Jemma asked, immediately curious.  “And is magic real?  How does it work?  Did she have to use an incantation, or did it just happen?”

Still pressed against her side, Skye nudged Jemma gently with her elbow.  “Later, Jem,” she said.  “I want to find out what this curse is and how to break it, first.”

“Ah, that’s fairly simple,” Clint answered.  “I don’t know how it works, but basically, all that happens now is that you can understand animals, and they can understand you.”  He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.  “As for how to break it… well, I’ll tell you what Loki told me:   _to break this spell, you must find true love’s kiss_.”

Skye blinked.  “Loki watched way too many Disney movies as a kid, didn’t he?”

Before anyone could answer her, Skye heard her name being called out, and turned to find her rather flustered Dad jogging down the street.  “Skye, are you okay?” he said, stepping forward to pull her into a tight hug.  “When I got Jemma’s text, I was worried.”

Squirming a little, since her Dad was having a moment and didn’t seem to want to let her go, Skye eyed Jemma over his shoulder.  “What did you text him?” she demanded.

Jemma bit her lip.  “Well, I might have mentioned that you’d just fallen out of a tree and I was scared you might have broken your head,” she replied sheepishly.

Skye sighed.  Jemma was great, but she did tend to panic sometimes.  “I’m fine, Dad,” she said.

“She is,” Clint added, and her Dad finally seemed to figure out someone else was there.  “I looked her over, and aside from a sore wrist and a bump on the head, she really is fine.”

When he finally released her, Skye nudged her Dad around towards Clint.  Then she watched in amazement as her normally calm and composed father _actually blushed_.  Skye blinked, before a grin stole across her face.  Maybe her Dad wouldn’t be so alone when she left for college after all.

Leaving the two men to their stammering introductions - seriously, her Dad was like fifty, didn’t he know how to use English already? - Skye leaned down to scoop up her new kitten.  Maybe she’d leave Peggy as a present for her Dad too, so he had someone to snuggle with on the couch.  “So,” she said, leaning back into Jemma’s side.  “I think I might have finally solved my Dad’s whole dating crisis thing.”

“You… what… oooh!” Jemma said.  Then she was turning and Skye was suddenly being kissed, and oh my _God_.

_Jemma was kissing her_.

Shoving the kitten into her pocket, Skye reached up with two hands to grab at Jemma’s sweater, and then kissed her back.  It was sweet, and hot, and kind of had way more tongue that Skye was expecting, but that was _perfect_.  Skye never wanted this moment to end.  When she finally pulled away, Jemma was smiling as brightly as she ever did when she had a science puzzle to solve.  “So… ah,” Skye said, struggling to find her words.  “Did you do that because of the whole curse thing?”

Jemma blinked.  “You mean as an experiment?” she asked.

Skye felt her stomach plummet to her feet.  “Oh, right, yeah.  As an experiment.”

“No,” Jemma told her fondly.  “Well, okay, maybe just a little.  But mostly I kissed you because I’ve been wanting to for ages, and you were never going to do it.”

“Huh.”  Skye felt like her face might break she was grinning so hard.  “Cool.”

~*~

_Two months later_

Skye stepped back, hands on her hips, and surveyed her beat up car with no small amount of satisfaction.  She and Jemma had a ridiculous amount of stuff, and it had actually been pretty hard to fit it all in for their drive to Massachusetts.  As the summer had come to an end, Skye had been insanely grateful that MIT and Harvard were so close together.  Jemma was her _girlfriend_ now, and there was no way in hell Skye was leaving her behind.  Not that Jemma would actually let her.

Skye was still kind of giddy about that part.

“Are you sure…?” her Dad asked from behind her.

“ _Yes_ , Dad,” Skye groaned.  “I’m very sure I don’t need a new car, and that I’ve packed everything.  I’ll be _fine_.”

Her Dad sniffed suspiciously.  “I know,” he said.  “I do.  You’re smart and resourceful, but you’re also my baby girl, and you’re leaving home for the first time…”

Hiding her own prickling eyes, Skye turned and let her Dad pull her into a tight hug.  Shit, she was going to miss him.  “I’ll call heaps, okay?  And Thanksgiving isn’t that far away.  Or Christmas, and you can come up and see me too,” she babbled into his shoulder.

Her Dad hugged her tighter.  “You’re a college student now,” he told her.  “You don’t need your boring Dad hanging around all the time.”

“Yes, I do!” Skye protested.  “And you’re not boring.”

For all that Skye had known Jemma and Leo since junior high, it had just been her and her Dad for years.  He was insanely proud of her for getting into MIT, but they’d never really spent time apart before.  Nights with Uncle Nick didn’t count.  “Who am I going to talk comics with?” Skye asked.

Her dad pulled back with a smile.  “You talk comics with Jemma all the time,” he said, tugging on her hair like he used to do when she was twelve.  “Don’t front.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t know Captain America like you do,” Skye replied.

Her Dad kissed her on her forehead.  “You’ll be _fine_ ,” he told her.

Jemma, having finally finished saying goodbyes to her cousin, wandered over to give Phil her own hug.  Leo was sniffling miserably in the background, and with a grin, Skye reached over to give him a hug too.  Leo was just as smart as his cousin, and would probably be following in Jemma’s footsteps to Harvard next year, but right now he was mostly acting like the world was ending.  Or maybe he’d follow Skye to MIT and go into engineering.  “We’ll call you heaps, too, okay?” Skye told him.

“Yeah, I know,” Leo replied.

Ruffling Leo’s curly hair, Skye laughed as he ducked away, before turning as she heard new footsteps walk up.  Clint grinned back, and waved.  Then Skye watched as he walked over to her Dad and carefully extracted his arms from where they’d been squeezing Jemma tightly.  It made Skye feel a lot better about leaving to know her Dad had Clint and Peggy to make sure he didn’t work himself to death.

After another round of goodbyes and tearful hugs, Skye and Jemma finally climbed into the car.  Letting out a deep breath, Skye slipped on her sunglasses and turned towards the passenger seat.  “Ready?” she asked Jemma.

“Ready,” Jemma grinned, reaching out to squeeze Skye’s hand.

Yeah, life was going to be _awesome_.

 

Fin

 


End file.
